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Part 3 (Final)

The end. Thank you for reading!! Well, that’s the gist of it. Are Nathaniel and Ptolemy similar? How did Bartimaeus see them? That’s the theme. The two might have had some similarities, but fundamentally, they’re complete opposites. Even so, Bartimaeus will likely never forget either of them. Hmm, I might come back and add more later. Since I translated everything at once, there might be translation errors, less suitable translations, or spelling mistakes. If you find any mistakes or have suggestions for more appropriate translations, please let me know.

Part 1

Part 2

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Part 2

To be continued.

Part 1

Part 3

Is it difficult to read in this format? The last part has not been translated yet, so it will be a while. ※Bart does not want Nathaniel to become Ptolemy. He wants to establish the same kind of trust with Nathaniel that he established with Ptolemy. At the same time, he has completely given up, thinking that it is impossible.

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Part 1

To be continued.

Part 2

Part 3

I found out that I can upload a number of photos to Tumblr from PC. In any case, it is impossible to upload them all at once, so I'll upload the first part as a test, even though it might be a bit difficult to read. It is a manga in which Bartimaeus continually compares Nathaniel and Ptolemy. I am strongly pro-BartNat, but the main focus is on recreating the relationships in the original book, so there is platonic love but no romance portrayal. I will upload more as soon as the translation is finished. It would be helpful if you could point out where the translation is wrong. I have cut some dialogue and changed some phrases due to word count, so please let me know if you have a more appropriate translation. Thank you!

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Maid cleaning a massive chateau surely belonging to the richest people you’ve ever seen, and as she’s walking from room to room you notice that every single portrait is of her

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most of my HnK arts from recent at the top and older ones at the bottom!

been drawing fanart for this series since 2018 holy shit

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Expedition Cooking with the Enoch Royal Knights - LN 5 Impressions

Expedition Cooking with the Enoch Royal Knights Volume 5 by Mashimesa Emoto, Illustrations by Tera Akai. Translated by Emma Schumacker, Published by Cross Infinite World.

You know what you're in for when reading a book by Emoto-sensei, and this is basically more of the same. Mell and the squad keep getting sent on repeat missions, and more people and creatures keep getting added to the family. This was probably the coziest book yet in this series. The majority of the book is focused on a) cooking, b) funny drama, and c) slice of life. 

This time around, there's a retired legendary hero who ends up wanting to stick around to learn more survival skills (despite his myriad skills, he is absolutely clueless when it comes to butchering a rabbit!). The interactions with him and a cute daikon fairy are ridiculously sweet and wholesome.

The other theme for this book was marriage! Captain Ludtink and Garr are both engaged, and they keep teasing Zara about it as well. I've generally enjoyed the fact that although it's clear that Zara and Mell have a (very slowly) growing relationship, and they've even moved in together, they're still platonic for now. It's super heartwarming to see Mell start to warm up to the idea of a relationship, and I think this ship will set sail for real in the next volume. 

I've already requested the next book from the library!

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Lout of the Count's Family Vol. 1

Lout of the Count's Family Vol 1 by Yu Ryeo-Han, Cover by LOKOnity. Translation by Henry Shin and Lauren Na. Published by Seven Seas.

This is my first Korean webnovel series that I've read since I've started this blog, but oddly enough it wasn't the first that I've heard of (I've been waiting for the official release of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint). I've heard this one mentioned with high praise in the usual online circles, so I decided to give it a go. Official Synopsis: A man who wants nothing more than to kick back and relax must use his wit and wiles to survive the fantasy novel he's fallen into.Ever dreamt of waking up inside a novel? For Kim Roksu, this dream becomes reality when he finds himself in the shoes of Cale Henituse, the lazy, wine-loving son of a count--and punching bag for the novel's destined hero. Determined to dodge his grim fate, this new Cale Henituse vows to rewrite his story, aiming for a life of leisure far from heroic deeds and inevitable beatdowns. But the path to a peaceful life is twisted by irony. As Cale plots his escape from destiny, he inadvertently gathers a motley crew of magical allies--including a haughty baby dragon and two mischievous kitten shapeshifters. Every attempt to avoid heroism entangles him further in a whirlwind of unforeseen adventures, proving that sometimes the best heroes are the ones who resist the call.

Normally it takes me some time to ease into new series, since I don't always find them gripping right away. Luckily, I was drawn into Cale/Roksu's antics from the start. Roksu was an orphan with a crappy life in his previous world, so he's determined to live his best life in this one as Cale Henituse, the eponymous Lout of the Henituse family. I don't think the real Cale would be as engaging, but it's fun to watch Roksu walk a fine balance of not actually being a terrible person, but putting on a show so that he can get what he wants.

To be fair, I don't think he's particularly good at that anyways. The people around him figure out pretty quickly that "Cale" has changed, and is someone to watch out for now. He manages to accomplish a lot in this first book, gathering a crew of the novel's Hero, and other assorted compatriots.

There's a lot of events that happen, including saving a small dragon (it's on the cover!) and interfering with many of the original novel's story events. This was a pretty fast paced book, and there's some decent setup for the overall story.

The "first part" of the webnovel is 776 chapters, and this volume covered 42 of them. At this pace, there are already 18 books worth of content in just the first part (there's a second part too!). If the books continue to be as engaging as this was, I'll be sure to continue the series.

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Ishura - LN 1-2 Impressions

Ishura Volume 1 and 2 by Keiso, Illustrations by Kureta. Translated by David Musto. Published by Yen On (Yen Press).

The official synopsis: 

In a world where the Demon King has died, a host of demigods capable of felling him have inherited the world. A master fencer who can figure out how to take out their opponents with a single glance; a lancer so swift they can break the sound barrier; a wyvern rogue who fights with three legendary weapons at once; an all-powerful wizard who can speak thoughts into being; an angelic assassin who deals instant death. Eager to attain the title of “True Hero,” these champions each pursue challenges against formidable foes and spark conflicts among themselves. The battle to determine the mightiest of the mighty begins.

It's hard to explain what this series is about without giving away too much of the plot developments, so in some ways, I think it's better to give the anime a try before jumping straight into the light novels. I watched the Ishura anime before reading the novels, so I already knew that I would love this series. The easiest way to describe this series would be "What if every overpowered character imaginable was in a single tournament arc, and also the story is told like Game of Thrones?". 

Even though the synopsis for volume 1 (copied above) talks about the battle to become the "True Hero", in reality, Ishura does something that I think is not that common in light novels. It doesn't just skip to the "fun battles", it spends nearly two volumes building up the world, the magic system, the politics, and the cast before even getting to the main point of the series, which is the tournament arc. 

Some people are going to hate this, but for me, it was super refreshing to see a series that doesn't resort to the same exact "fantasy rpg game world" setting that is often used in lots of other isekai series. The series also doesn't have a main character with a singular POV. It switches between multiple characters, and even side characters if a specific scene is required. And to be clear, Ishura actually is an isekai series. Many of the characters fighting in the tournament (called Shuras/demons) have been cast out from a place called "The Beyond" which is heavily implied to be our world, but post-apocalyptic with supernatural abilities.

All of the characters abilities are designed to be "overpowered" in their own way, so it's fun to see what happens when people cross paths. Everyone has differing motivations, and the reason why the tournament is even happening isn't fully spelled out until the end of volume 2. 

The fact that the anime basically only covers only these volumes (plus half of volume 3) shows that the studio was confident in the source material. And I'm grateful that they didn't rush the adaptation, and introduced me to this great series. 

I'm eager to get to volume 3 and beyond, to see not only the tournament fights, but all the political maneuvering and machinations take place. This is definitely one of my new favorite series that I think is quite overlooked and underhyped. 

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NEW FISH JUST DROPPED

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The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life - LN 4 Impressions

The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life Volume 4 by Usata Nonohara, Illustrations by OX. Published by Yen On (Yen Press).

Beware spoilers, post is under the cut!

After last volume's tragic conclusion with Lynx's death, having Mariela's crazy master show up was just the thing she needed. Now that Mariela is resolved to advance her skills as an alchemist, having her teacher appear in her life again to "guide" her along the way is fun. 

Freyja is overbearing, boisterous, alcoholic, and wise. Her epitaph is the "Sage of Calamity", and she truly lives up to it. She practically steals the show in the scenes that she's in, which makes sense given her strong personality. While some might find this annoying, I did enjoy seeing her true (tough) love towards Mariela. 

One of my favorite parts of these kinds of the stories is the "leveling up" of an enterprise once scale becomes necessary. In this case, since Mariela is determined to make enough potions to fuel the entirety of Labyrinth City's dungeon-conquering exploits, the city basically has to adapt it's resources to accommodate her. It's fun seeing how they come up with solutions to keeping her identity as an alchemist secret while mass producing more potions (even though there are definitely people on her side who have already caught on to her true abilities). 

This volume also has many important story points play out to completion. We discover the secrets of the Schutzenwald and Aguinas families, as well as the truth behind the history of Endalsia. Although it was a slow buildup, the outcome of these plot points is satisfactory, and really ties the worldbuilding together. 

A lot of subplots get wrapped up in this book, and you can really feel the end of the series coming. The characters are going to make a final push towards conquering the labyrinth next volume, and I can't wait to see how that turns out!

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Gaoshun adressing Gyokuyou be like: Laides I understand your concern but this is the feral cat we all adopted, we all know what she is capable of! if it came down to a fight we'd have found a few bodies by now

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he spends most of his time trying to make them presentable...

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Everyone is talking about how the new ending is so stunning but did y’all notice this👀

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The Apothecary Diaries - LN 13 Impressions

The Apothecary Diaries Volume 13 by Natsu Hyuuga, Illustrations by Touko Shino. Translated by Kevin Steinbach. Published by J-Novel Club.

I am literally so sad that I'm caught up to this series...

Volume 13 is a short story volume, and it's almost entirely from the point of view of the other characters. Since the main crew has been gone for a year, this volume catches readers up with Lahan, Yao, En'en, and even her sisters back at the brothel like Meimei and Joka. Even though it's not explored in relation to Maomao, there does seem to be some plot moving regarding a "meeting of the clans" that will happen in the next book.

There's an ongoing theme of relationships in this book. Meimei found "someone" to buy out her contract. Joka is listless, and is aware that she needs to accomplish the same thing. Lahan is living out other mens' dreams of a harem rom-com, to hilarious effect. Lahan's Brother curses Lahan for his good luck, while thinking about his own marriage prospects. Yao has a crush on the most un-eligible eligible bachelor imaginable. There's of course the drama between Basen and Lishu, still unresolved but with Maamei's intervention, more developments are promised to come. And of course, Jinshi and Maomao almost move too quickly, which is rare for the two. 

I would have thought this book was published on Valentine's day (it did release on February 2023 in Japan). But of course, there's intrigue and a murder to solve. 

I enjoyed the breather this volume offered, and it offered great insights into the other characters. It also felt fresh seeing the effect that Maomao has had on other people. While she thinks so humbly of herself, others can (rightfully) see the effort she puts in, and her true strengths.

Now begins the painful wait until the next volume. Volume 14 is being published at the end of May, and Volume 15 will take another couple months to get released. After that, J-novel Club will be completely caught up to the Japanese volumes (yay?). 

Hyuuga-sensei, please write faster! ლ(¯ロ¯"ლ)

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Happy 10 year anniversary to the Kekkai Sensen anime!